Genre: Fantasy
Series: 1st Book in Wayward Children
Nancy tumbled into the underworld, but she comes back changed. Her parents, not understanding what has happened to their daughter, send her to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, a place, unbeknownst to them, that takes in children that have traveled to other worlds and have come back. But after Nancy’s arrival bodies start to show up, and with her newfound schoolmates, Nancy has to get to the bottom of it.
The main character, Nancy, is asexual and states this to her roommate fairly early on through a conversation of sexual attraction. She touches on her past of being uncomfortable with it before and feeling outside pressure about feeling sexual attraction, even though it seems like she wasn’t out. During her time in the underworld, she felt more comfortable and had a possible romance with the lord of the Dead. All of this is backstory told in snippets.
I’ve read other books in the series and while it takes place in the same universe it’s not strictly linked or chronological. Beneath the Sugar Sky is more of a sequel to this book, and Nancy shows up briefly midway through it. Her asexuality isn’t mentioned and her role is as a stepping stone to the goal of the plot.